Chapter 497 Defend the City! (Second Update)
News of the Chen Kingdom's army's impending invasion of Yuegu City had already spread, and every household kept their doors and windows tightly shut.
Gu Chengfeng stood on the city wall, anxiously pacing back and forth, gazing into the distance.
Finally, he was greeted by a large number of soldiers pouring in from Chaoyue Ancient City, but Tang Yueshan and Gu Jiao were not among them.
“There are still people behind,” a soldier said.
Gu Chengfeng told them to hurry into the city.
Wounded soldiers arrived wave after wave, but Gu Jiao was nowhere to be seen. A layer of frost gradually settled between Gu Chengfeng's brows.
Having spent so much time with Gu Jiao, how could he not guess what she was doing?
According to custom, any wounded soldiers are brought back to the city for treatment. However, if they die on the way or suffer permanent disabilities, there is nothing that can be done. But Gu Jiao would not do that.
"You little rascal..."
Gu Chengfeng clenched his fists, now truly regretting sending her to pick up Tang Yueshan; he wished he had stayed behind.
No, if she stays behind, the number of soldiers killed or wounded will be much higher...
Just as Gu Chengfeng was extremely anxious, a soldier beside him suddenly spoke up: "Sir! Look!"
Gu Chengfeng looked up and gazed into the distance.
Gu Jiao is back!
She rode the finest and fastest horse, carrying the longest and heaviest spear, galloping all the way here!
Tang Yueshan and his soldiers also rushed back with her.
Not far behind the group, the Chen cavalry were chasing after them relentlessly.
The Chen army had already realized they had been tricked. The imperial reinforcements had not arrived at all; it was all just a few soldiers creating a diversion and a smokescreen!
In an attempt to regain their honor, over four thousand Chen cavalrymen, with an indomitable spirit, launched a frenzied pursuit of Gu Jiao and Tang Yueshan's group!
On the city wall, Prefect Cheng witnessed this breathtaking scene. He was so frightened that his legs went weak, and he swayed, almost crashing into the wall!
He exclaimed in alarm, "Oh no! The Chen army has arrived! Close the city gates! Close the city gates!"
"Don't turn it off!" Gu Chengfeng shouted sternly!
Prefect Cheng earnestly advised, "Sir! If we don't close it now, it will be too late! Even if you don't think of yourself, you should think of the people in the city! I know that Marshal Tang and another official are out there, but for their sake, the lives of the entire city have been sacrificed..."
He couldn't continue speaking.
Whether he was genuinely concerned for the people in the city or simply cowardly, Gu Chengfeng had to admit one thing: once the Chen cavalry stormed in, the city gates would never be able to close again.
The army of Chen will march straight in, and the people in the city will suffer from the flames of war, resulting in widespread death and destruction!
But Gu Jiao is still downstairs!
"My lord!" Prefect Cheng choked up as he looked at Gu Chengfeng.
Gu Chengfeng clenched his fists, his body trembling slightly: "Wait...wait a little longer."
Six hundred steps, five hundred steps, four hundred steps...
Prefect Cheng was extremely anxious: "My lord! We can't wait any longer! The city gates won't close all at once!"
The city gates were heavy and equipped with winches, requiring dozens of guards to pull the iron chains simultaneously to slowly close them.
That's one hundred steps.
Gu Chengfeng gritted his teeth: "...Close the city gates!"
Prefect Cheng hurriedly said to the guards beside him, "Quickly! Quickly notify them to close the city gates!"
Dozens of guards pulled the iron chains on the winch, and the winch slowly turned, the city gate began to close, and the mechanism laid on the moat outside the city gate also began to slowly rise.
Gu Jiao took the lead, her horse was good and she could easily mount it, but she suddenly stopped in front of the city gate!
She tightened the reins and turned back to say, "The wounded soldier goes in first!"
Two wounded soldiers rode their horses onto the elevated bridge.
Then, she had Hu Dongqiang and the archers go up the bridge one by one.
As the last archer reached the bridge, the Chen cavalry launched an attack. A hail of arrows rained down, and the archer's horse was hit, causing both man and horse to fall to the ground.
Gu Jiao rode over, leaned out, grabbed the archer, and threw him onto the machine gun bridge.
At this point, the bridge was already half closed, and the horse could no longer mount it.
"Stop! Everyone stop!" Gu Chengfeng shouted.
"It can't be stopped!" said Prefect Cheng.
The bridge rose faster and faster as it went on, and it was almost closed, while Gu Jiao and Tang Yueshan were still outside.
While dodging the arrows from the Chen cavalry, Tang Yueshan grabbed Gu Jiao and threw her violently onto the machine bridge!
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. By the time Gu Jiao fell off the bridge, it had already slammed shut behind her!
The city gate was now only a tiny crack remaining.
Gu Jiao quickly rolled over and rolled into the city gate.
From then on, the city gates were closed.
Tang Yueshan, mounted on his steed and holding his sword, looked at the four thousand Chen cavalrymen surging toward him with a death-defying expression.
The archery skills of the Chen cavalry were not very good, but if ten thousand arrows were fired at once, a few would surely hit Tang Yueshan.
"Release the arrows!"
A barrage of arrows rained down on Tang Yueshan, who had no shield to protect him, only a long sword in his hand.
Just as Tang Yueshan was about to be riddled with bullets, a lithe figure descended from the sky, lashing out with a whip that wrapped around Tang Yueshan's waist.
"superior!"
With Gu Chengfeng's command, the soldiers on the city wall pulled the ropes with all their might, pulling the two of them up together!
Almost at the same moment, hundreds of arrows pierced through the spot where Tang Yueshan had been standing and struck the city wall!
...
This battle was no longer about the life or death of any one person, but about the survival of the entire city and the fate of the Zhao Kingdom.
With national humiliation looming, even the greatest personal grudges become mere personal feuds.
Gu Chengfeng and Tang Yueshan descended from the city wall and found Gu Jiao treating wounded soldiers in a makeshift military tent.
Gu Jiao was unaware that Tang Yueshan had been rescued.
The city gates closed the moment she entered the city.
She knew that Tang Yueshan had sacrificed his own chance of survival to throw her in, but she wouldn't let herself be consumed by the emotions it brought.
She quickly went into a state of combat readiness.
Her calmness and decisiveness once again shocked Tang Yueshan.
If Tang Yueshan hadn't seen what she had done before, he probably would have thought she was an extremely cold-blooded person.
Seeing that she was alright, Tang Yueshan and Gu Chengfeng did not go up to disturb her.
Tang Yueshan took over the defense of Yuegu City. He brought back two thousand infantrymen and five hundred archers from Ye City, plus the five thousand troops in the city, for a total of seven thousand five hundred men, with nearly six hundred wounded.
All wounded soldiers requested to return to combat, but they had to be assessed by Gu Jiao and deemed fit to fight before they could rejoin the unit.
In addition, nearly half of the five thousand soldiers in Yuegu City were conscripted from the civilian population, and these men were not sent to the front lines to die.
Tang Yueshan selected skilled martial artists to join the rear camp, while those without martial arts skills stayed on the city walls, mainly responsible for assisting in weapon attacks, such as throwing stones.
In addition, there is a shortage of weapons and armor.
Tang Yueshan ordered his men to gather the blacksmiths in the city and have them forge the metal overnight.
"etc."
"Marshal Tang, is there anything else you need?"
Tang Yueshan paused for a moment, then said to Lieutenant General Li, "Forge another suit of armor."
Nearly 20,000 troops from the Chen Kingdom were at the city gates, a vast and imposing force, like a giant beast that could swallow the ancient city of Yue at any moment.
The people in the city kept their doors and windows tightly shut, and everyone was in a state of fear.
The prefect's mansion was also running low on food supplies. Because there were no troops stationed there, the food supplies were only enough to feed more than two thousand guards. Now that there were five thousand more mouths to feed, the prefect's mansion's granary was suddenly stretched thin.
Gu Chengfeng's task was to purchase grain and fodder from the people in the city.
I accompanied Master Hu.
"Let's go to the rice shops in town first," Gu Chengfeng said.
Master Hu took Gu Chengfeng to a rice shop near the city gate.
The rice shop had long been closed, but when the officials came, the owner still dared not refuse to see them.
"Sell me all the rice and grains you have left in your shop," Gu Chengfeng said to the shop owner.
The boss looked at Gu Chengfeng with surprise and suspicion.
"Is that all?" Gu Chengfeng asked.
"Ah...yes, yes!" The shopkeeper reluctantly handed over the rice in the shop. "Sir, that's all we have. There's no more."
"How much for one?" Gu Chengfeng asked as he took out his money pouch.
The shopkeeper was taken aback again. This time he was sure he hadn't misheard. This official really had come to buy grain, not... to confiscate it.
The shopkeeper took out his abacus, tapped it away for a while, and said cautiously, "Five taels of silver in total."
Gu Chengfeng gave him the silver.
The boss stared in disbelief at the silver in his hand, speechless for a long time.
After buying the grain, Gu Chengfeng went outside and noticed that there were some heads peeking at him on the street.
Every household opened a crack in their door, and the people peered at Gu Chengfeng with a mixture of curiosity and fear.
A little boy, about the same age as Xiao Jingkong, ran out. Like a newborn calf, he was not afraid of tigers, nor was he afraid of officials.
He came up to Gu Chengfeng, raised his little head, and asked in a childish voice, "Are we going to die? Are you going to run away?"
His mother rushed out, quickly hugged him, and covered his little mouth.
"Please forgive me, Your Excellency! Please forgive me, Your Excellency!" The woman knelt down and kowtowed to Gu Chengfeng, admitting her mistake.
"Won't."
A cold, detached voice rang out from not far away.
Gu Jiao brought Hu Dongqiang to the pharmacy in the city to get herbs.
She stopped in front of the child and the woman, pointed to Tang Yueshan who was reviewing troops at the camp gate, and said, "Do you see that man? He is the Grand Marshal of the Army and the soldiers of the entire Zhao Kingdom obey his orders."
The little child looked at the tall and imposing Mount Tangyue and exclaimed, "Wow!"
Gu Jiao then pointed to Gu Chengfeng: "And him, he is the second young master of the Gu family army. The Gu family army is the most powerful army in Zhao Kingdom. They are on their way and will arrive soon."
The little child looked at the handsome Gu Chengfeng again and exclaimed, "Wow!"
Gu Chengfeng was overwhelmed with complex emotions and surging feelings as he looked into the child's innocent and adoring eyes. For the first time, he felt the weight of responsibility on his shoulders. He took a deep breath and spoke as if to the little boy, or perhaps to all the people on the street: "That's right! My elder brother will be here soon! He's bringing 100,000 Gu family soldiers! Don't worry, Yuegu City will definitely be saved! Even if we fight to the last man, we will definitely defend this city!"
Seeing everyone asking why I needed a tetanus shot, well… actually, I was setting up a squat machine at home and accidentally messed it up. While unpacking it, I used a new knife I bought to cut my finger—a thin, deep, and long cut, and it bled quite a bit. Tetanus bacteria are anaerobic, and generally, for deep, closed cuts like these, doctors will recommend a shot as a precaution. Open cuts actually hinder the growth of tetanus bacteria.
Today is Fangfangzai's day, and she's injured! o(╥﹏╥)o
(End of this chapter)
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